2019 Kia Optima 1.6T Review & Specs

2019 Kia Optima 1.6T Review & Specs – If it debuted at the New York vehicle show in 2010, the now-extroverted Kia Optima wowed viewers with its undermined roofline as well as set up visage, penciled under the directions of style boss Peter Schreyer. That Optima developed Kia’s provide design vocabulary, as well as the new, 2016 variance, fails to stray a lot from the manuscript, with the tiger-nasal area grille, the arc of chrome together the roof covering system edge, and the beltline that scoops at the rear. Details could have changed, and the cars and truck are 1.1 inches larger sized and a bit much longer, but no one will perplex the brand-new auto with anything but an Optima.

2019 Kia Optima 1.6T Specs

2019 Kia Optima 1.6T Powertrain

The pillar 2.4-liter four-cylinder is a naturally aspirated system creating 185 horsepower and also 178 lb-ft of torque; it’s discovered under the hood of the base LX as nicely as the mid-stage EX. On the top end, the 2.0-liter turbo results brandishing 245 horsepower as well as 260 lb-ft; it capabilities the SX and the SXL. Equally, obtain a six-speed automated. New to the celebration is the engine in our test vehicle: a 1.6-liter turbo 4 hitched to a Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. Its 178-hp outcome is the cheapest of the team; however, its 195 lb-ft of torque betters the 2.4-liter.

Presented just in the LX 1.6 T, the 1.6-liter is developed to be the most cost-effective offering of the lot (apart from the Optima hybrid, still based on the prior-gen automobile), as nicely as its EPA rankings of 28/39 mpg city/highway go to the top of the class. Its Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, however, is a welcome split from the increasing tide of CVTs in this category. It credibly copies the level of smoothness of a torque-converter automated at decreased rates as accurately as materials properly-timed changes under velocity. That acceleration is spry for an environment warm and friendly particular person, helped by the proven fact that the Optima LX 1.6 T danced through our can vary at 3241 added pounds– more than 300 pounds lower than the 2.0-liter SX. That amount has to do with on the very same level with a four-cylinder Honda Accord.

It’s also more than 200 pounds less heavy when compared with the Ford Blend 1.5-liter EcoBoost, which is possibly the Optima LX 1.6 T’s most straight competitor. In combat in between these two eco-misers, the Kia shines. Engine final result is basically a attract– Kia’s 1.6-liter makes 3 much less horsepower but 10 lb-ft much more torque when compared with the Ford’s 1.5-liter EcoBoost– but the Optima’s fuel economic system is much better by 3 mpg in the city and 2 mpg on the highway (and that’s locating the Merge it’s optional auto stop-start system). And when it’s time to place your foot lower, Kia’s 7.3-second zero-to-60 time trounces Ford’s 8.2-second result.

2019 Kia Optima 1.6T Interior

In fact, the situation can easily be made that the 1.6 is the most reliable of the 3 Optima powerplants. The 2.0-liter turbo has got to 60 miles hourly just fifty percent a second faster in our exam, at a price of 6 mpg in the city and also seven mpg on the highway. The 2.4-liter four (which we evaluated in the Optima’s near kin, the Hyundai Sonata) is each reduced, at 7.9 seconds to 60, and also thirstier. Mentioning the Sonata, when we checked the 1.6 turbos in that vehicle– in which it’s used in the Sonata Eco– it absolutely was also easier, stunning 60 in 6.7 seconds; that suggests our Optima, which had less than 500 miles on the time clock, may have completed even better with an additional cracked-in engine. The LX 1.6 T trips on the Optima’s standard suspensions, not the “sport-tuned” variance found in the SX as nicely as the SXL; nevertheless, it will not need to make any apologies for its journey. Happily restrained without a lot of body routines, it’s also certified adequate to ease intense sidewalk, aided by this version’s 65-series rubberized on 16-inch wheels. The low-rolling-opposition car tires, nonetheless, brought on a prolonged preventing distance of 185 feet from 70 miles each hour, even though road holding was a decent .83 g.

2019 Kia Optima 1.6T Redesign

That the 1.6-liter engine can be identified in just one trim level might be its main disadvantage. One step up from the base LX, the LX 1.6 T is sensibly appropriately tailored up (Bluetooth, a back again-up cam, keyless accessibility), but if you want natural leather-based, seat heating systems, or navigation, you have to go up the ladder. The choices list does, nonetheless, incorporate moving, a blind-spot alert system, and rear cross-targeted traffic signal. At this education, interior supplies are normal, with excellent deals of grained black plastic material, however at the really the very least the directing wheel is wrapped in sleek natural leather, the armrests are decently padded, as properly as the gaming system has full storage. The previous Optima’s a lot more car owner-driven dash has been substituted by a new style that highlights the cabin’s width. It’s an easy interior decoration with a trick-free of charge design of the controls that recalls the Honda Accord. The comfortable seating position is enhanced by a noticeable dead pedal for the chauffeur, as nicely as relatively slender pillars as nicely as a reduced cowl pays for good publicity. The rear seats flaunt generous legroom and also sufficient headroom under the sloping roofline alongside with a quick-trip-appropriate midsection setting.

2019 Kia Optima 1.6T Redesign

The 2011 model brought the Optima in from the subprime edge of the mid-size-sedan market, as accurately as the revamped version should sustain it there. Without one of the most active or high-class version, the LX 1.6 T may be it’s most intriguing, offering painless frugality that ought to communicate with price-aware car purchasers.